OZARK -- An Ozark man remains held without bail after police recently charged him with 20 residential burglaries across the city.
Ozark Police Chief Tony Spivey outlined the details Friday that surrounded the closing of a nearly five-month investigation into a series of burglaries across the city of Ozark.
Spivey said investigators recently arrested 32-year-old Edward Scott McLeod and charged him with 20 felony counts third-degree burglary, 20 felony counts of theft of property, along with five misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief.
Spivey said the charges stemmed from burglaries that reportedly started happening in September of last year and continued up until last month.
Spivey said the majority of the property stolen during the burglaries was jewelry. He also said about half of the estimated $100,000 worth of property was recovered during the investigation.
“He’d wait, and watch people leave their homes. He was careful to make sure no one was in their homes,” Spivey said. “People work hard for their property and their homes and for someone to disrupt their lives like this is not good.”
Spivey said McLeod also has pending charges for violation of the community notification act for the failure to register as a convicted sex offender in Ozark. He said McLeod was released from the Alabama Department of Corrections in July 2011 after having served a prison sentence for similar charges.
Spivey said police captured McLeod after a K-9 officer saw what he believed to be a suspicious vehicle on the side of the road on Campground Road last Saturday.
“He goes to check the vehicle and it takes off,” Spivey said. “During the pursuit, speeds exceeded 80 mph.”
Spivey said police caught McLeod near an apartment complex on East Andrews Avenue after about a four mile pursuit, which included six police vehicles. The Wiregrass Violent Crimes and Drug Task Force and the Dale County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Ozark Police Department in the pursuit. Spivey said they found what they believed to be some stolen property in McLeod’s vehicle.
“He’s been cooperative to investigators. He’s made admission to some of the crimes, and of course some he did not,” Spivey said. “I do know he did make a statement that he had a drug problem.”
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